For a long time, it was thought that adoption from abroad was good for the intended parents and for the child, but from 2030 it will no longer be allowed. Theatre maker José Montoya (45), who was adopted from Colombia, never believed in the 'adoption fairy tale'. 'The idea that a child in a 'third world country' is worse off than here is racist.'

“Many adopted people hear their whole lives that they should just be grateful and not complain,” says theater maker and visual artist José Montoya (45). Adoption is a recurring theme in his theater work. In 2021, he made the performance To be of never been about his own adoption story. And last November, together with four other program makers with a history of adoption, he organized the cultural stage Ver Van Hier in Rotterdam, to let 'a different voice' be heard about intercountry adoption. “We debunk the adoption fairy tale.”

Intercountry adoption, abuses and prohibition

Since 1956, it has been possible to adopt a child from the Netherlands or Europe in the Netherlands. In 1974, it also became possible to adopt a child from outside Europe, which soon concerned the vast majority of adoptions. Between 1974 and 2023, more than 42,000 children were adopted from abroad, of whom 406 in the last five years ( CBS and FIOM ).

As of 2030, it will no longer be possible to adopt children from abroad. Parents now have six years to complete current adoption procedures, writes State Secretary Teun Struycken in a letter to the House of Representatives. In the NOS Radio 1 Journaal, a conversation with Reinout van Haperen of the National Association of Adoptive Families.

Van Haperen would like to start the conversation with something positive: "The tone of the letter is really much better than that of Mr. Struycken's predecessors." But, he continues: "What we find very sad is that the interests of the children are not taken into account at all in this weighing of interests."

Permanent home situation

Adoption is primarily a child protection measure, Van Haperen argues. "You want children to grow up in their country of origin, that's the ultimate goal. But if that's not possible, a permanent home situation is more important than growing up in their country of origin." He believes that the interests of children should come first. That parents should be sought for children, instead of the other way around.

Records obtained by ITV News reveal 197 babies are buried in mass burial grounds across England, ITV News Social Affairs Correspondent Sarah Corker reports

An investigation by ITV News has found that nearly 200 babies are buried in unmarked graves across England, amid allegations of neglect and poor treatment at church run homes for unmarried mothers in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

Burials were often carried out in secret, and without the knowledge of families.

Between 1949 and the mid-1970s, an estimated 200,000 women were sent away to mother and baby homes run by churches and the state - where infants were taken from their mothers or died through poor care.

Burial records obtained by ITV News through a series of Freedom of Information requests have revealed that 197 babies, who died at eight of these homes, are buried in mass burial grounds at least ten different cemeteries across the England, from Newcastle to Hampshire.

A Quebec woman, adopted in Romania in the 1990s under a false identity, laments that the government had been warned nine years ago by her country of origin of the irregularities in her file, but without ever notifying her.

"It's been nine years since I was told that I had the wrong identity. How many other adoptees are they hiding information from?" says Roxana Pamela Harrison, who hopes her story will force the Quebec government, which is responsible for adoptions, to be proactive.

The 33-year-old woman learned on her own a little over a year ago that she had been adopted in Romania under the identity of another child, without her adoptive parents knowing. It was when she found her biological family that she discovered that her name was "Adriana" and that she had been born in December 1990, rather than April 1991.

But when she went to Romania in January 2024 to try to get her adoption file, she was shocked to learn that her adoption had been cancelled outright. Worse still, the Quebec government had known about it since 2015.

Adoption cancelled

A young Swedish woman, whose biological mother is Vietnamese, has returned to Vietnam twice in search of the woman who gave birth to her 34 years ago before she was adopted and moved abroad.

Driven by an unwavering desire for a reunion, she holds onto the hope that one day, her efforts will lead to a miracle.

With tears in her eyes, Hoa, as she is called, recently shared her story with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, expressing her heartfelt wish to meet her birth mother.

Adoption et trafic d'enfants en Roumanie: «Jamais je n’ai remis en question la légalité de l’adoption», confie une maman adoptive

Photo Clara Loiseau

PARTAGE

Didier Reynders : ce que l’on sait de l’enquête en cinq questions

Perquisitionné le 3 décembre, l’ex-commissaire européen doit s’expliquer sur la provenance d’un million d’euros environ, dont une partie a été engloutie dans l’achat suspect de billets de la Loterie nationale. Par la voix de son avocat, il rejette les soupçons de blanchiment. Le point sur ce que l’on sait de l’enquête. Article réservé aux abonnés

Par Louis Colart, Joël MatrichePublié le 7/12/2024 à 07:00 Temps de lecture: 2 min

Hello, I’m attorney Kim Sun-hugh. I would like to share some insights and experiences from working with overseas adoptees during their visits to their agencies, the National Center for the Rights of the Child (NCRC), and the police. I cannot say that having an attorney present during these visits will dramatically affect the outcome, nor can I say whether having such legal assistance is always necessary. 

A Quebecer sets out in search of her true identity

Document type : Web page copy

Source : www.journaldemontreal.com

Publication date : December 6, 2024

The Journal followed her to her country of origin where she met her biological family

Cambodia jails 13 pregnant Filipino surrogates

Thirteen women from the Philippines have been convicted of human trafficking in Cambodia for intending to sell babies they carried through surrogacy.

They were sentenced to four years in prison, but with two years suspended, the Kandal Provincial Court said.

The court said it had strong evidence showing that the women intended on having the babies "to sell to a third person in exchange for money, which is an act of human trafficking".

The women are not expected to serve any jail time until giving birth, and the court did not say what will happen to the babies when they are born.